Health Issue Briefs

Task Force on Genetic Testing in Health Insurance issue brief reviewing the fundamentals of risk selection and risk classification to help policymakers and the public better understand the role that risk classification plays in the voluntary individual health insurance market. (March 1, 2009)

Uninsured Work Group issue brief providing comments on the limitations of certain proposals to address the drivers of health spending growth and highlighting those proposals with significant potential. (September 1, 2008)

Uninsured Work Group issue brief discussing the fundamental principles of insurance, whether and how they apply to health coverage plans, and the implications of deviating from those fundamental principles. (July 1, 2008)

Consumer Driven Health Plans Work Group issue brief answering several common questions about HSAs, including: what are the different types of consumer driven health plans; who is choosing these types of plans; what impact will they have on health spending growth; and, how will they affect the traditional health insurance market. (October 1, 2007)

Mental Health Parity Work Group updated issue brief providing a description of mental health parity requirements and how group insurance plans have responded to those requirements. The brief also includes a discussion of the cost implications of expanded mental health parity requirements, including the impact on other medical costs. (September 30, 2007)

Small Group Market Task Force issue brief describing the types of medical insurance pools, highlighting issues that are fundamental to pooling, and illustrating how changes within a multiple small-employer pool would affect medical costs. The issue brief also describes different rating methods and examines the potential effects of introducing a new rating mechanism in an existing insurance market. (September 30, 2006)

Uninsured Subgroup updated issue brief providing insights on the fundamental questions facing policy-makers and health coverage sponsors, such as: What is health insurance coverage? What are ways to provide health care for the uninsured? What are the roles of individuals, employers, and government in health care financing? (December 31, 2005)